Columbia Library columns (v.28(1978Nov-1979May))

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  v.28,no.2(1979:Feb): Page 24  



24                             William B. Lieb'uiann

In 1968 this writer contributed an article to the Columns en¬
titled "A Friendship: Pro Bono Publico" which outlined the life¬
long association of Herbert H. Lehman and Lillian Wald in the
pursuit of the betterment of the human condition. The present
article could well have been called "A Friendship: Pro Bono Pub¬
lico II" as Charles Poletti and Corliss Lamont have devoted their
lives to the same cause and continue to do so to the present day.
They have often propounded tlicir philosophies by written and
spoken words. The following quotations are succinct examples of
their views. In My Trip Around the World, Lamont wrote:
". . . the Humanist aim of w"orking for the welfare and happiness
of the whole family of man is the greatest and most worthwhile
of all ideals." Poletti proclaimed in the Decennial Report of the
Harvard Class of 1924: "... I find public service exciting ;ind
most satisf\ing ... I am strong for pro bono publico work. It's
bully. " The Marquis de Lafayette is purported to have said: "I
read, I study, I examine, and then I act." One can surely agree that
both Charles Poletti and Corliss Lamont followed this axiom
throughout their careers and that their actions have been for the
pubhc good.
  v.28,no.2(1979:Feb): Page 24